Review of ZiegenBock’s 4th Annual Music Festival in Houston

Twice a year, ZiegenBock hosts a music festival in Bryan (September) and in Houston (October). This event is produced and promoted by Mustang Music Group out of Houston and the primary sponsor for these events is Anheuser-Busch (brewers of ZiegenBock) — a good portion of the money raised from ZiegenBock is donated to various Charities.

The 2006 4th annual ZiegenBock Houston music festival was held in the grassy field at the Sam Houston Racetrack. Two stages were set up about 100 yards apart and when the music stopped on one stage, the next band immediately started playing. We parked our bodies and chairs between both stages, which means we didn’t have to move our lazy butts to catch the music on both stages — we just shifted our chairs 30 degrees toward the other stage. The grassy field has a few trees but the limited shade gets taken quickly, so bring your shades, a hat, and sun tan lotion to next years event. You can bring in chairs and blankets but no coolers. There were 3 drink stations selling cold water, Bud, and ZiegenBock. There were 6 food vendors to choose from offering burgers, cajun, and Mexican food. Parking was free, close to the entrance, and there was plenty of it.

The music started around 2 and concluded at 12:30 — the lineup for this years ZiegenBock festival was outstanding and included:

• Ashley Ray – sassy country with an edge/rock influence. Good drinking music that you can’t sit still to. The band does everything from Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Land of Hopes and Dreams” to The Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”
• Josh Owen – country singer, songwriter and guitarist Josh Owen may only be 19 years old, but he is already something of a music and entertainment business veteran and the Dallas Morning News praised his “batch of commercial country tunes with honest verve” in its review of Fixin’ To Begin. Josh’s debut CD (released when he was 17)
• Reckless Kelly – a band that has made a lucrative and long-lasting career out of mixing rock, country, folk and Americana into a potent, high-octane package which can only be properly experienced live and onstage.
• Moot Davis & The Cool Deal – Moot has a talent for writing and performing songs with the passion, soul and honesty of such legendary honky-tonk balladeers as Hank Williams, Sr. and Webb Pierce. While true to the idiom, Moot’s music is not a “throwback” – rather it is an evolution of an art form that has been sadly missed. This is honky-tonk for the new millennium.
• No Justice – another up and coming band from Stillwater, Oklahoma which is known for spawning large talent like Jimmy LaFave, Garth Brooks, The Great Divide, and Cross Canadian Ragweed
• Micky & The Motorcars – no fuss, straight ahead Texas country rock.
• Cooder Graw – known for their own unique version of loud, raucous country with the writing chops to make it great and it doesn’t get much better when Matt plays his washboard “Susie”
• Phil Pritchett – a high energy performance with insightful songs
• Wade Bowen – a lively mix of music described as roots rock, guy rock, alt-country, and Texas music.
• Eli Young Band – very entertaining and good vibes that are a little bit country and a helluva lot of guitar-driven rock & roll
• Stoney LaRue – LaRue’s emerging style impressively blends varied elements of country, blues, and soulful rock into cohesive, vocal driven performances
• Roger Creager – a real crowd please and the accordion and violin player are excellent as the band plays everything from Dixieland, rockabilly, blues, calypso, to honky tonk
• Cory Morrow – one of the best known and most popular Texas singers blending West Coast country and rock sounds with Texas storytelling, resulting in a tight mix of ballads and stompers with lyrical depth
• Cross Canadian Ragweed – an alternative country band, “The Boys from Oklahoma” closed the show with an excellent performance

What an ideal lineup of fun and great Texas country bands — it doesn’t get much better than the above bands. ZiegenBock attracts a young fun-loving crowd that truly enjoys good Texas country music and they know the words to just about every song from all the bands. ZiegenBock knows how to throw a party for 17,000 people and this was one of the best in Texas — we will be Bock for next years event. Oh, another good thing about the ZiegenBock festival, its FREE — you can’t beat that. Put this on your calendar (I’m told that the venue for 2007 will be even better) for next year – ZiegenBock in Houston on October 20 and Bryan on September 2 which may turn into a two day event in 2007.